Nice day

Played again. Finished up for a change. Flopped a set twice. Both times I was up against a flopped straight. Lost the minimum with my tens. Turned quads with my threes. Got paid Get 2d4d in the big blind. $12 raise. Three callers so I come along. The flop is the oh so nice Ad 4c 4s. I check. Original raiser checks. The button bets $20. I call as does the original raiser. The turn is the 3d. Checks around. 5 d would be nice but I will settle for a 2. River is the 2. I bet $35. Called in both spots. One made the straight. The other AK. Good to run well

Blind

Been playing at Hollywood often. Still running bad and playing bad. That is a bad combination. I was playing a few days ago. I was sitting next to a regular. His name is Doug. Nice guy. I had been away from the table so I straddled back in. He was on my right. There are four limpets to Doug and he makes it $30. I fold my 9d2d quickly. There is one caller from the button. The flop is A35 rainbow. Doug makes a big c-bet. The button tanks for minutes. He must have an ace. He finally folds. Doug announces he has not even looked at his cards. He flips up 24 os. Hilarity ensues grump grump grump

Beat goes on

Played again today. Dropped a buy in.

. KK cracked by T5. I am continually amazed by how many people check call at Hollywood. I get kings on the button. Four limpets in. Make it $25. Get five callers. Great. Flop comes with two tens. Bets and calls in front of me. I invest $25 more to spike a king. Fold after whiffed turn

AK utg. Make it $15. Folds to big blind who decides to defend. He flops trips. I lose the minimum when a king hits the river and I call

. Did make quad jacks. Had JJ. I limp utg. Looking to get it in. I had about $90 Argo guy makes it $20. One caller. I push. One fold. gro finally calls. Jack on all club flop. Turned quads. He had KQ. Other guy would have flopped a flush. If I had only had more money. Might have made more

. Did not donk off the the rebuy. God I hope the cards or me gets better soon

Junk Punched at the Tables

I have been running incredibly bad lately. Mostly due to AA. The last five times I have had it, they have been cracked. KK cracked the last time I had it got taken by J3.

Saw that a 1/3 game had been going all night so I went to Hollywood. Sat down and promptly got AA. Bump it to $15 Two callers. Board is low cards kind of connected with two spades. Small blind bets $35 I bump it to $100. He calls we are heads up. The turn is a Js. He checks. I have the ace of spades. I move in. He calls. Flips K2s. I have $40 left. Next hand get 44. Move in. Called twice. Flop set and triple up. Play a while. Get KQh on the button Flop is Qd 5h Jh. Late position raises. I re raise. He moves in. I instant call for my stack that I had since built to $300. I should have probably slowed down and thought about it here. Loose call I think. What do you think. Fold here? Just call the initial bet? He had bottom set. River saves me with the flush and I am up a buy in. Should have bolted then, but the K3 guy was playing so loose and bad. The game was so good. I lose some pots. Flush vs full house. Down to $400. Waiting to pick up a hand. The K3 guy is in the six seat. The five seat had arrived and started running over the table hitting hands left and right. He had amassed his stack of $1200 in about thirty minutes. I finally get two black aces in early middle position. There is a raise ahead of me of $15. Sweet. I make it $65. Trying to isolate. The five and six seats both flat. The original raiser pushes all int. He had $101. Now here is where I am kicking myself. I would have liked to re raise but all I could do is complete the bet as per the rules of the game. BUT. I am almost sure the dealer had pulled in his original $15 bet meaning he doubled my raise by $1. I did not realize this later while driving home screaming like a mad man. Doing my best imitation of Old Man Parker working on his furnace. Let me know if you get the reference. Anyhoo I actually stopped the game to make sure I could not raise. The dealer said no, but I never double checked to see if she had dragged original bet in. I am learning. Flop comes 3d5c6c. I move in and the five seat calls. Six seat folds. Five seat says he has a ton of outs. Turn is the 7h. He flips over his cards to expose the 7c. River is the 9c. Straight flush. AA goes down in flames. Horse shoe firmly implanted up five seats ass. I am at my wits end. What are the odds of AA going down five times in a row. And it has been so dirty too. Vs 36os T3c 56c K3s. A lot of these guys are the first callers too. It is not like they were priced in. I think I am moving in pre flop next time just to book a win with them. I can accept set mining but come on, those hands? To compound the problem I lost with AA when I made a horrible fold. I put the guy on KK. The flop came 3K3. I checked and he bet. I folded the aces. In retrospect, no way he has KK here. He would slow play it. He confirmed the next day he has AK. He was just so tight. I could now see him calling my $35 bet on the straddled hand with anything less than a premium hand. Any advice for me. Should I take a break?

Patience

I am getting better at being patient at the tables. I had a little hiccup last week. I was running so bad. Not bad just no cards. Boring. I lost two buy ins. Pushing my last $65 into what I knew to be a loss. I had AQ vs AT on a QTT flop. Knew I was beat but was so frustrated that I pushed. Should have folded and gone home with the $65 Played yesterday. Determined to be more patient. I am folding away. Down a few big blind. I get A8os in the big blind. Ep player makes it $10. Six callers. Hmmm. What do pot odds dictate here? I almost folded. Patience. Right? I called. Flopped top two with two diamonds. Ep player makes it $30. One caller. I push for $160 more. Ep calls. Other guy thinks then says I guess I make the worst call ever. No diamond, but the gunshot gets there. The other guy says I guess it wasn't the worst call ever. He hit the gutty. Love this guys play. Hated the outcome. How does a thinking player call $30 with a gunshot let alone go all in for it. He had exactly three outs. The diamond could not be counted. Anyhow he was short so I only lost $75. Two hands. later call small raise from the button with JTos. Flop is 789 two hearts. Ep guy from earlier bets $25. Same shorty guy from earlier flats. Pattern emerging. One other caller. I move in for my last $100. Ep calls. Shorty guy deliberates. Finally just calls. Other caller folds. Kc 4s. I win. Ep had flush draw again. Shorty had set of sevens. Raise KK from small blind. Make quads on the river. Play 34h for small raise. Flop comes A25 stack a guy. End up the session up a buy in Patience. Good. No patience= leaks. Fixing a hole right now

Hit and Run

I am playing poker as a part time job now. It used to be a fun diversion or hobby if you will. I really enjoy poker I used to play until my time to play had run out. This was mostly due to not knowing when I would be able to play next. It was all about maximizing the experience. Results were always secondary. Well not anymore. I can play whenever I want so results are now the driving factor. Went to Hollywood last night. Play a few rounds. Only played my blind hands. Half way through the third orbit I pick up AA in middle position. Two limp to me. I make my first raise of the night to $15. We are playing 1/3. Young gun on my left calls as do three others. So much respect. Flop is KdQh4s. Not my favorite flop five ways. Three checks to me. I decide not to c-bet this board with so many opponents. KQ or JT are definite possibilities. The young gun, who has position, makes it $45. One other flats. I consider pushing but decide to call and see. The turn is a 3c. Completes the rainbow and should help no one. Checks to the young guy who thinks then announces all in. The other guy tanks then folds. Something about the young guys demeanor and declaration made me believe I was ahead. I had him on AK in my mind. I called. River brought another 4. He flips KJs. I am now up $305. Hit. Do I run? I played longer and moved to the one seat. Played up and down for a while. Told a new dealer while folding a hand that I had not gotten AA in a couple hour. Very next hand I look down at AA in the small blind. Usually nice to take down a bigger pot uncontested But I was first to act due to the button straddle. I make it $16. Button calls. I cbet. He flashes 77 and folds Get AA again in middle position on straddled hand. Make it $21. Called in two spots from the button and small blind. Flop is 3h6hQc. Small blind makes it $30. He does this a lot if he catches any part of the board. I bump it to $90. The button goes into the tank. He almost folds. I see the small blind is ready to muck. Finally the button talks himself into pushing for $70 more. I call and he flips 7h8h. Love this guy. Same guy I flopped quad 9's on last week. I hold. Hit. Run? Naw. I stay. New dealer sits down. He wants to ghost ride my hand. I have 4c5c. I limp in the cutoff. We see a flop seven handed. Flop is Kd3c6d I got the gutter ball draw. It is cheked to me I make a $10 stab at it. One reluctant caller. Turn is the 9c. Thank you flush draw. I make a $20 stab. Faster call. River is the Tc. Got there. Value $20. Call. The table murmers at my hand. The dealer just smiles. I tell them I can't start with the nuts every time. Hit. Run? Hell yes. Three and a half hours and I am up $550. Good work if you can get it.

4X 4

Went to Hollywood last night. Played well. Made good reads. Got AA twice. Got paid off both times. Got KK once. Got paid. Got QQ twice. Split once when the other guy also had QQ. Was paid on the other one. None of these pots were huge. Just nice stack building. Had JJ. Flopped quads. Won a $35 pot. The ace and the flush got there still no action. A buddy I had not seen in months showed up. I was going to leave up $350, but decided to stay and catch up. Mistake. Gave all of it back save $70. I was playing my last hand of the session. I look down at 99. I limp and we see a flop five handed. It came to Oh so tasty 99A. Blinds check. I check middle position player bets $15. We get heads up after I call The turn is a 3. Chech check. The river is the oh so awesome A. I sigh and announce all in. The other dude shrugs and calls saying "I guess we chop". I flipped up my second quads of the session. He just stares and says wow. Got back to where I was when I decided to stay. Racked up and left Wondering what the odds On flopping quads twice in six hours?

Tired

I have Bravo Poker Live Ap for my phone. It shows what games and wait lists are at all casinos that employ that system. I noticed Hollywood had a 1/3 game going at 8 am Monday morning. This is unusual for Hollywood. I decided to go check it out. A table at this time of day usually means it has been going all night. I arrive twenty five minutes later. As I approach the front desk of the poker room, I notice a gentleman cashing out for over $1100. First inkling that my theory is correct. Yhe pit boss confirms the game has been on all night. I buy in for $200. I get to pick either the 4 or 5 seat. I prefer 1 or 10. I take the five. I check the stacks. It looks more like a 2/5 table than a 1/3. It becomes clear what is going on. The three seat is driving the action. He is blind raising randomly from all positions. He is getting lots of action and getting paid off. The three seat seems like he is drunk. That is impressive since since last call was seven hours ago I sit and play fold. The table fills up. The one tset folds and I move there. The five seat was card dead. The three seat announces all in blind while the cards get in the air. He apologizes in advance for the slow roll He has $600 or so in front. One guy calls and loses $200 with his KQ. Three seat spikes a 5 on the river to make his 9 5 good. We play a round. Again the three seat announces all in the blind and appologizes for the slow roll. The under the gun player has just sat down. It is his first hand. He asks if this is for real. We assure him this is his normal play. The new guy says he has a pair so he has to call. The next gentleman immediately says call. I then look at my hand to see KK. I am on the button. It was almost dread that hit me then. I knew I had to cal. I was almost ensured to be ahead, but I did not relish seeing a flop four handed. I called my $270. The new guy started calling for a low board while the dealer made the pot right. The three seat and the other guy an myself sat silent. The rest of the table leaned in in anticipation. The flop came 6cQc6s. Not bad normally but who know here with two random cards in the three seat. The other guy did not seem happy so pocket queens for him did not seem likely. Burn. The turn brought the oh so lovely King of diamonds. I do not know what the river was. New guy had 88. Other guy had AKos. Three seat had J4os. By far the largest pot I have ever won. I gave a few hundred back, then left after the three seat left.

AA

Played poker today. Sat down. Had AA twice in the first three hands. Again 5 hands later. First one got the blinds and a lumper. Second one I got cute and limped. Bailed on a heavy action eventually revealed flopped straight board. Third one I make it $15 after three limpets. It's a 1/3 game. Button calls and so do three others. Doh. Flop is the benign 862 rainbow. I cbet. The button min raises me. It's fold or shove. I shove. He flips ove 68os for flopped two pair. Really? The 2on the turn gives me the hand and he grumbles at me. Got to take the re-suck with the suck sir. Get my $165 up to $410. Then go cold. Finally quit with a $50 profit. Gott KK twice. Once chopped in the blind. Other small win Interesting thing about the two seat. I was in 3. The 2 seat saw KK flop trips three times and get beat each time. All by AQ. Three different players. It was like a carousel A player sits down. Flops trip kings. Gets beat on the turn. Leaves. Next

Guess Who,s Back?

Played the Hollywood today. 2 1/2 hours. Up $185. Take that always One weird hand involving my neighbor and player at the other end of the table. Neighbor raises $15. Called in four places. The flop was the innocuous T53. Off suit. Neighbor bets $55. Two folds and other guy tanks. He finally move all in for $100 more. Neighbor immediately calls. Neighbor AAvs QT os. Turn is an ugly Ten. River 2. Neighbor loses. He walks away steaming. He comes back saying he played it wrong. Iaskedvhim how? He just kept saying he played wrong. I let it go. I wanted to tell him he got it in an %80 favorite. I wanted to tell him the other dude made a huge mistake. The reason we play poker. I wanted to tell him I make that play eight days a week up against 6 outers he got exactly what he wanted. I just shut up and smiled when he doubled me up with my flopped straight

Since there is no more Pauly

Does anyone know who is attempting to fill the huge void left by Dr. Pauly not covering the WSOP anymore. I need my fix. MT

Still here

Just taking the summer off hanging with the kiddos. Back in August on the felt

More run crappy

Play a home game with a lagtard. He has been pushing the table around. I get AKos and limp. He makes it $12. I push for $120 more he calls with 63c. He turns a 6 to beat me. Go to Hollywood just now. Get TT in small blind multi limped pot. I just call. Flop is Th8h4d. I check. Old dude bets $20. One caller I raise to $100. Old guy says call and puts all his chips in. He meant all in. Othe guy folds I put him all in for $60 as the turn is pealed. Qc. The river is the 9 of diamonds. I flip over my set. He looks and says damn I missed my flush and goes to muck. He then last minute decides to flip his hand over. Jh6h. He runner runnered the straight. He had no idea Two hands later I get my last $100 in with AKos. TT beats me and ighn. I lovingly hate this fucking game.

Run. Based

This game giveth and taketh. Wow. Had a $294 loss last Friday. Played well. Was on a great table just could not get anything going. Played yesterday. Picked up AA early. Raised and called preflop. Jack high flop and bet it. Get raised and I move in. Called. The raiser never showed but said he had a jack only. I am up to about $500. A little later I get AsAc. Utg raises nice. The big stack at the table reraises. Very nice. Now the big stack has about $1000 in front. He is just running super hot. I have played with him before an he is not very good. He has always gone broke when I play with him. It folds to me and I pop it to $100. Original raiser moans and folds. The big stack moves in and I call. He has AhAd. The flop and turn come all hearts so sick. This is a first for me. I re buy and make quads with 66. I chip down. Get JJ in against aaa slow played KK for my last $125 on a 6 high board Ughhhhh

Run goot.

Still on the iPhone. I started using an app called Poker Live Tracker. It's a nice bankroll managing tool My first two sessions in April were $300 and $340 losses. I got back on the plus side with a $61 win I'll take it Got incredibly lucky when KK all in pre flop outflopped AA Then I booked my largest live cash game win ever. $1200. I ran so well. I only miss played QQ against AA. I hit three sets. Got lots of big pairs. Had aces cracked but lost the minimum Followed it up with a $547 win last Tuesday . I run goot

The biggest winners for me where Aces vs Kings three times. Stacked them each time. It just reinforces what I already know to be a leak in my game. Patience. Got to wait for good cards and get paid

Still here

Lap top crapped out. Gotta use my phone.

Way to go Jayhawks. One hell of a rebuilding year.

Poker is up and down. I win. $500. Then lose. It is currently my turn to win next

Will post more when my laptop situation is resolved

MT

How bout them Hawks

4

Rock

Chalk Jayhawk K U

Lets Go Jayhawks.

And Again

Went back to the casino last night. Prasad called and asked if I wanted to go. I had not seen him in a while so I did. I gave back $300. I was card dead. I had bleed down to about $140. I get 8s9s on the button. It is limped five times before me so I put in $3 to see the flop. Flop comes 3d5s6h. Someone makes a $8 bet at it. I call hoping for the gutter to get there. We see the turn four ways. The turn is the oh so beautiful 7h. The small blind bets $25. Other dude raises to $60. I move all in. Small blind tanks and finally calls. The other dude calls. The river is the worst card possible 3h. Check check. The small blind flips over Ah4h. The other dude just shows a 4. I went from being up to busto in one card. Ah but what can one do. I got it in as nearly an %80 favorite. I like my play. Just bad results.

Playing again

I was pretty pissed off at my results last week. I was even more upset with my play. I played impulsively and way too loose. It was bugging me so much I went back today with my mantra going through my head, just be happy to see flops. Enjoy the game and play it correctly. Tighten up jack ass.

This was put to the test immediately. I sit down and I get dealt what would be my first of just two pocket pairs of the three hour session. It was TT. I am in early position under the gun and decide to limp. A loose player in middle position makes it $15. He is called once and then raised to $50 by the big blind. I put my mantra to the test and fold. The original raiser and the big blind get heads up. The flop is K44. The big blind bets $50. The other dude tanks. He then gives a speech about not being able to put the small blind on a king so he calls. The turn is a 2. The bb goes all in and dude instant calls with the flopped boat, kings full. The bb had JJ.

Exactly one orbit later I get AA under the gun. In the one orbit I had seen, there was not one limped pot, so I decided to limp raise. I immediately get my wish. The kings full player made it $12. He gets called twice. I am estimating my raise when the JJ guy from earlier wakes up and stacks out $35 and raises it. Woot Woot. I make it $100. Everybody else goes away. The small blind thinks then just calls. We both had about $185 to start. I don't know why he just did not push here because he ends up calling my all in bet on the ten high flop. My aces hold. He said he had queens. He would go on to stack off three more times with big pairs he could not fold. He was an older gentleman. I read on memphismojos blog recently that older dudes have a tendency to hang on to over pairs too long. Seems true here.

I then skate around a bit up and down. I get 67 suited on the button. There is a $9 raise in early position that is called in five spots before me. I call. We see the flop seven ways. The flop is 85A. I am open ended. Under the gun checks. The guy next to him makes it $25. There is another caller. I call knowing that if I hit my draw it will get paid. The small blind immediately announces raise. Oh well $25 gone. He then makes it $60 total. Under the gun moves all in for a total of $75 more. The original raiser flats. That is all he can do here. The all in bet dictated that. The other original $25 caller goes away. I now have the odds to draw so I put in $50 more. All the small blind can do is toss in $15. The turn is the Jack of hearts. Amazingly the small blind checks. The original raiser checks. I too check. The river is the 9 of hearts. This completes flush draw and a highly unlikely gut shot draw with the T7 or QT. Can't really put anybody on any of those based on how the hand played. I am pretty confident I have the winner. Both players check. I immediately put out $100. The small blind calls. He shows AK and I scoop a very nice pot. The all in guy had AK as well.

I flop a nut flush and chip up to $800. I play a little more and give back a hundy. I cash out for $700. Not a bad three hours. Only pairs I got were in the first orbit or so.

The Horror

Lost two buy ins yesterday. The biggest problem was me. I was impatient and stubborn. I stacked off my first by in with two pair when I was pretty sure the oesd had got there.

I bought again and started to splash. Not go. Got down to my last $50 and finally get my third and only big pair of the six hour session. Two red kinds. I say boom and go all in from middle position. The button had straddled and there were two callers. The button tanks and finally decides to call. It gets heads up on the flop and he says you have me crushed. I love it when players say this. Then why fucking call. Is that not poor poker?

Anyhoo. The door card is the king of clubs. Really nice start. Then the wheels fell off. Qc Tc to complete the flop. I knew I was behind immediately. Sometimes you just know. Thee board did mot pair. The button sheepishly revealed Ac5c for the flopped flush. I told him it was not the worst call I had ever seen. Remember I had AA cracked by 29os on a $40 pre flop call. It happened again another session ago. I had QQ in the small blind. The button straddled. I bet $30. Folds to the button who smooth calls. The flop is 332. Long story short I stack off to 3h7h. This is how I am running.

I blame Howard Lederer.

Back again

Played a short session this morning. I had a few hours to kill and wanted to play cards. So off to Hollywood I went. I called ahead to put my name on the list. I still was faced with a wait when I arrived. I gave them my number for a text and wandered off through the casino to really explore it. I had never seen the entire half opposite the poker room. They even have a bar that overlooks turn 2 at Kansas Speedway. Pretty cool.

I became restless so I found the only open black jack table. I sat down and waited for the shoe to end. This ten dollar table combines black jack with three card poker. For a separate five dollar bet you can play three card poker as well. Three of a kind, straights, flushes and straight flushes all paid 9-1. I pushed my first hand and lost my 3 card hand. Second hand I hit my 3 card hand and won my black jack hand. I never looked back. The guy to my left started taking my action. I started taking his. I hit a 3 card hand for $10. $90 pay out. He hit three hands in a row that I was playing with him. That shoe made me almost $200. Nice to have your buy in for poker before you sit down. I lost down to $150 when my seat opened. Fun start

I got my seat. The one seat. I am beginning to really enjoy the one and ten seats. Easy to see the cards and almost all the players. Well, my heater continues. Second hand I get AA. Win smallish pot. Next hand JJ. Take down the blinds. Fifth hand AK get called two places. Queen high flop and I c-bet and take it down. I see a flop with J9 on the button. Flop two pair and bet into six other players when checked to me. Only the big blind calls. Turn is a K. Sort of scary with the oesd getting there. I bet again and get smooth called. River is a beautiful 9h. Checked to me and I bet nearly all the other players stack. $50. He calls instantly. He just had a K. I like this guy. He goes and reloads.

A few hands later I get AA again. The table had been raising a bunch and I was under the gun, so I limped. The King guy picks up chips and makes it $25. Love it. Come on callers. Come on callers. No callers. I look at his stack. He has about $80 left. I decide to just push. I know he has a big pair, probably kings. If he had more I would have bet different, but he was already steaming from earlier and he was never gonna fold here with that stack. He instant calls me. I flip over AA and he groans showing his KK. The guy next to him says he folded a king. Nice. He does not improve and I have more than doubled my buy in.

I get 55 in the big blind and it is checked pre flop. I am heads up with an early limper. Check a KJ3 board. Turn is a 5. Bingo. I am running well. I check. He checks. River is the Td. This puts the royal flush draw out there. I just check. He bets 55 I just call. He had two pair. Damn missed a bet.

I played till the big blind than left. Less than an hour and I had made $217. Coupled with my black jack winnings I was up $367 for a little over an hours work. Nice.

Just in case, I bought a Powerball ticket at the store today.

Played a bit

Went with Slick to Hollywood again today. I was about doubled up at one point. Then I lost some. Ended up $100 for the session. Including craps which we put $20 out there messing around while waiting for our table.

Only real poker hand I had was flopping the nut flush with KJd and getting called all the way down by a guy with AJ who made two pair on the river. Double up.

Oh and how could I forget? I limp in with 89d as I am wont to do. The small blind makes it $16. There are two callers before me and so I decide to take a flyer and call. I put him a big pair. He was pretty tight. We see a 9 high flop with one diamond. He throws out a smallish bet of $25. One caller to me and I call. I was thinking I need another 9 or 8 or possibly a diamond to continue with the hand. The turn is a oh so sweet 9h. Original raiser checks and the other caller checked. I stack out $70 and push it in. The original raiser starts bitching. "Really" and "you gotta be kidding mes" Left and right. He finally folds. The other caller lady thinks for a while and finally calls. Uh oh. Smells like full house to me. The river is the 5 of hearts. This completes a crappy straight and the flush. She checks. I check and say I only have a nine. She has AA and I scoop. The guy who was bitching should have thanked me. He had QQ. The AA lady would have busted him.

He kept complaining about my play. I don't mind. I love ABC poker players. They have never expanded their game. 89 suited is a great hand to see a flop with against an over pair.

Holly Blah

Well I have been back twice Gave it all back. Only played one hand really bad. QQ vs AA. I just kept calling down on a ten high board. I really deep down knew I was beat. It was one of those times when you finally get a good hand and cannot let it go. I talked myself into him having JJ. Oh well. Back at it Thursday.

Hurray

for Hollywood.

Went to the morning session at the new casino with my buddy Big Slick. He did not fare so well. Down $500. That was hard to imagine considering he flopped quads, three sets, two straights and a full house. He also rivered quads. The full house he had to split when the board double paired, but every other hand he won. He loves betting and chasing draws. They just did not hit today.

I was up another $260. Flopped a set with 44 on a 48A rainbow board. Great board considering half the players at our table would call down with any ace. I made a straight with Q9c on the turn. The small blind had flopped top set with JJ and pushed all in into the nuts. Nice day for me. Not much else.

Good Day

Hollywood Casino Part Deux

Played another short session today. Three hours.

Had my choice of two tables when I sat down. Went with two women. I know, I know. I am a stereotyping bastard. Well, the other table had a bunch of regulars. I did not notice one regular at the chick table.

I sat down and immediately noticed that the lady next to me had very little knowledge of the game. Her hand motions while in a hand can only be described at erratically tentative. Almost as if every action was a question, only performed so swiftly in order to avoid embarrassment. If she was wrong she would just play it off like she was doing something else. When she rivered two pair on a four way checked down board, I heard her give a little squeal. She put in a $5 bet with great self satisfaction. The other lady was a total rock. She was playing next to her husband. He was weak tight. Two other dudes were just as bad. I had picked the correct table.

The one truly talented player at the table raised it to $11 in early position. Four callers to me in the cutoff. I have AcQc. I call of course. If I were in the blinds and it was off suit, I probably fold. I really do not like AQ. The big blind comes along and we see a flop of KcTc3c. Gin!!!! The original raiser makes it $35. Folds to new girl. She says "oh well" and goes in for a total of $60. I put out a stack of $100. Big blind folds and original raiser folds. He flashes JhJC. I win. She never showed Would have liked to see. I love playing with new players. It is like time traveling back to when I first started playing. I have long since come to grips that I too once played and behaved that way.

Over all it was a good day. I flopped two pair three times and won. I turned a nut straight. I flopped a set. Everything just seemed to work today. Nice.

Overall myself and many regulars at the Missouri casinos are in agreement. The new casino has generated great games. Just like last week. There were eight "fish" and two "sharks". For lack of better terminology. I am no shark but I ain't no guppy. Usually the ration is reversed at the other casino's. Hope it lasts.

Hollywood Casino

A new casino opened up last Friday. Its name is Hollywood Casino and it is located on the second turn of Kansas Speedway. It is also twenty five minutes door to door from my house. This is significant for me in that all other poker rooms in KC take me about an hour door to door. That extra half hour is a big deterrent. I may have more poker in my future.

The advertising campaign leading up to its opening billed Hollywood as Kansas City's first true Vegas like gaming experience. They sort of got there. It obvious it is not riverboat like the Missouri casinos. The ceilings vault. There is no smelly river. Everything is state of the art. Slots, table games are all shinny and new. They biggest non Vegas amenity is the alcohol. It is most definitely not free. No big deal, as I rarely drink and play poker.

The poker room is nicely and conservatively adorned. Just like the rest of the casino. There is not much flash, neon or flashing lights. Other than the slots that is. I walked up to the podium to put my name on the 1/3 nl game. I had to wait a while as the men in suits still seemed to be learning the ropes. The list was ten long and I put my name on it. They took my cell number so I could be texted when my seat was available. This I really liked. The other rooms do not do that. In fact I have never been to a Vegas room that does that, though I am sure it exists.

I wander off and lose $75 playing table games. I get my text 30 minutes later and go get my seat. The tables are nice and the chairs swivel and are comfy. The only issue is they shoehorned 12 tables into a space for 10. Hard to get around and no matter where you sit you are getting bumped by other players.

The play was way soft. A lot of players must have come in from the Kansas side that do not usually make it over to Missouri. I saw a lot of the regulars but only two were at my table. Usually the ratio is reversed. I get in cheap with 57d. Flop is 3s6d8d. Two of us call smallish bets to the river where I hit my straight. It checks to me and I get two players to pay me $40. I hit two sets in two hours. End up a buy in. Lots of calling down with top pair this day. Nice.

Over all a nice experience. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. I have the Bravo Poker Live app for my phone. Lets me see how many games are going on in all three poker rooms. Yesterday, Hollywood had 9. Ameristar 3 and Harrahs 3. The average used to be nine between Ameristar and Harrahs. So Hollywood must be drawing from the west.

Vegas

Spent the Superbowl weekend in Las Vegas. Only played two short sessions of poker. Up a couple hundred. I decided to stay with the group this time. They played a lot of Pai Gow. So I played a lot of Pai Gow. I was up on that too. I hit a straight flush on the bonus for $250. I won every session. I only threw craps once. I borrowed $5 from my buddy and ran it up to $400. The down was my sports bets. I made seven $100 sports bets and lost everyone. Oh well. Great time. Saw Motley Crue. Was not my first choice but the group was going. It was a great concert. I forgot how many of their songs I know. I recommend it.

The only had one semi strange incident at the poker table, I was at the Golden Nugget playing 1/2 nl. Eventually there was a button straddle. Now in Kansas City where I play most of my poker wherever the straddle is, action begins with the hand immediately to the left of the straddler. At the Golden Nugget, they only allowed,as far as I could tell, button straddles. Furthermore, the action always started with the under the gun player and continued normally until it reached the button straddle and then skipped him. Then the blinds would act and then action reverted back to the button.

Is this normal in Vegas? Is this normal anywhere else? I had never seen it and I am intrigued.

MT

Sets

I have been on a bit of a dry spell when it comes to flopping sets recently. I had kept a running total in my mind and I had over 40 pocket pairs with out getting the set. Last time I went to the boat with Prasad, I told him this at while at dinner. He came by later and I had flopped a set with 66 but lost on the board of 763. One of the blinds had 45 and I could not catch up. Lost the minimum when a 5 came on the turn and I slowed down.

Last Thursday. Not sets. Barely any pairs.
The drought continued.

Just Tuesday I play again. I sit a t a 3/6 table to pass the time. Play three hands before my 1/2 seat opens up. Sit at seat seven and immediately realize that my $214 buy in was not nearly enough. Apparently the game had been going on all night. There were stacks of $1000, $1500, $800, $700 and a few more in the $500 range. I brought a pee shooter to a tank battle. The only other stack near mine was just under $200 but he doubled up as I was sitting down. I almost got up and went back to 3/6 and just see flops. Ameristar allows players to buy in for up to %75 of the largest stack. I could have bought in for $1,125.00. I just did not have the scratch. I only brought the one buy in. They are always starting new tables in the morning. This is the first one I have seen go all night.

I get KK in middle position. Drunk utg guy puts out two chips with a sloppy gesture. He realizes one is red and tries to take it back. Another player says it has to stand and the dealer affirms this. They tell him not to worry, someone will raise it. I oblige and bump it to $15. I get three callers including drunk guy. The door card is the Ks. Bingo. It is starting to rain. The nest two cards are the queen and jack of spades. Poorly textured flop to say the least. Drunky checks. I decide to check to see what the other guys will do. It get checked around. The turn is a red 9. Not getting better. Drunky bets out $25. I resign myself to call it down unless the board pairs or the case king shows up. It is now heads up. A red 4 hit the river. Drunky makes the same bet. I sigh and call. He says all he has is a pair of queens. I table my set and win. Woot. The best part was drunk guy saying he was trying to be cute with his opening bet. I guess he was angle shooting with AQos. Too funny.

I get pocket queens and slow play them some time later. I flop another set and get some more of drunkys chips.

Drought busted.

Funny annoying moment of the session. Drunk guy and seat 10 get into a pot together. There is some betting and it gets to the river. Drunk guy says you have a pair you win. Seat ten states he has second pair and drunk dude puts his hand over the muck, waiting to see the winner. Ten waits for him to show. They get in a debate. Drunk guy telling him to just show his hand. The dealer steps in and explains to drunky that he made the last bet so action is to him. Show your hand and fold. Drunky kept saying the same thing to seat 10. To his credit seat 10 would not relent. This went on for over a minute. I told drunky to just show his cards or fold. As did the rest of the table. Finally the dealer told him to decide or he would call the floor. He mucked.

I get what the drunk player was doing. I have done it myself. Hold my cards out with my missed drawing hand. Most of the time they flip it and I fold. If they decline I act immediately. No biggie. One time recently I missed my flush and checked down the river with an older man seated right next to me. I tell him if he has a pair he wins and hold my hand out to muck. He decides to play the asshole card and nearly yells at me "then show your hand or fucking fold". I had not had any dealings with him until now. I was taken aback by this outburst. I show my missed draw and tell him thanks for the rules lesson dick. He mutters something about the rules again. I said yeah I fucking know, but up until now it had been a friendly game. All he had to say is show me yours. He apologized later.

Squirrel

I bought some bird seed to fill my "squirrel proof" bird feeder. I also bought a suet cake to put in my suet cake holding bird feeder. Here they are.





Nice of the squirrel to pose eh?

Anyway, what was intended to be a mission to feed the birds and attract some color to my back deck has turned into a battle between myself and the tree rats. They honed in on the suet cake almost immediately. They made short work of it. I tried to thwart their onslaught by storming out the door. Throwing rocks. I even used my sons Nerf gun. I hit one in the ass. Alas undeterred by my defenses, the varmits won.


Tree rats 1

Morning Thunder 0

They then set there sites on the seed feeder. I purchased this style because it specifically touted itself as "squirrel proof". I used it all last year and no squirrel issues. This year different story. The squirrels have been dining on seed until today. I had the feeder a little higher in the tree yesterday. Its former location was near a branch that might as well of been a dinning room chair. The squirrels just sat on that branch and spent their sweet time digging out the seed. You can see they have eaten about two to three inches worth of seed in one day.

Last evening I moved the feeder to the chair. It hangs a little lower, but the tree rats cannot get to the seed. Now I have never seen more than two squirrels at, or around the feeder. Since the seed is no longer easily acquired, they seem to have brought in the whole brain trust. I looked out the door this morning and there were six tree rats on the deck, feeder or tree. There was one charged with getting at the seed. The others were watching intently. Chirping him on. The best minds in the squirrel race seem to be stumped.

Tree rats 1

Morning Thunder 1

It must have been a good year for nuts in the neighborhood. There are way more squirrels than the previous five years we have lived here. We used to have a few owls living in the woods behind us. They seem to have moved on or died. Hence the explosion in the population I suppose. A hawk has moved in now. It came screaming by my window a few months back no doubt after a meal. I am hoping my little bird feeder ends up feeding a bird of prey. Serves them right. Don't steal from the little pretty birds, their scary big brother might be watching.

The Grump

Played at Ameristar yesterday. I only get to play short stints during the week. You know, family obligations and everything.

The game is 1/2. It is full of regulars. I am slowly becoming one of semi regulars. They have seen me enough and recognize me though they do not know my name yet. It is a grind, but that is okay. I like seeing flops.

I am chipping down on this day. I make my gut shot straight and lose to a full house. Down to $130 of my original buy in. I am in late position when I get The Grump It is the 2h4h. I limp for the $2. The button immediately makes it $10. There are three callers so I put in the extra $8. I tell myself I am crazy for playing this hand only because a certain blogger extolls its virtues on a semi regular basis. I see lots of flops but not a many rivers with the mighty 24. The flop comes out 7d 2d 4c. Bingo. Checks to the button who bets $15. Folds around and I call. Heads up. The 4d falls on the turn. Super bingo!!!!. This card is the best card I could hope for. It gives me the third nuts and completes the flush draw. I decide to bet at it. I have played with the button before. He will call here with the nut flush draw or with any two pair. I bet $35. He calls quickly. The river is the 9d. I decide to check, having put him on the flush draw. Usually the regular jump on weakness and will make a stab here. He checks though and tables Qd7h. I guess he put me on the flush draw and was looking for the 7. I missed a bet. He would have called a little something with the Qd.

I am back on the 24 wagon.

MT

Praad and Me

Prasad and I went up to the Ameristar Friday night. P got off to a rough start. Dropped a buy in early. I chipped down early. Got QQ on my fifth hand of the night. I was in the big blind. It limped by everyone. I raise to $18. Only the small blind calls. He is the youngest guy at the table. The flop was ace high. I bet weak at it. My mistake. He check calls. The turn is a 9. He checks, I check. The river the 9 of hearts. Completes the flush draw and pairs the board. He deliberately counts out $40 and puts it in. It felt like a steal. It looked like a steal. If it were an older player I would fold easily. He was young and it felt like a move. I decide to fold only because it was early and I did not know how he played. I flashed 78 off suit for third pair. He put me on a big pair or AK and when I checked the turn he made the right move. Well done.

I play for a bit and have $$130 in front. I limp in late position with 78os. It is nearly a family pot. Flop is 456 two clubs. Gin!!!! I bet out $7. The button makes is $25. The big blind flats. I push all in for $120 more. The button deliberates and tanks for a while. I am pretty sure he has A2. He finally calls. The big blind shrugs and says he is priced in. He calls. The turn is the 8 of spades and the river is the Q of diamonds. I flip the winner and have both of them barely covered. I more than triple up and am happy happy. The button had 62 of hearts The big blind flopped two pair.

Dealer mishap of the week. I was not involved in the hand. Action is after the flop. Player makes it $30. The button moves all in for $37 more. He announces all in for $37 more. The dealer was talking to someone else and says to the original raiser $37 total. He puts out $7 more for the call. The button objects and she realizes her mistake and fixes it. She looks at me and says something like I just repeat what I hear. No no no!!! That is not your job. Your job is to pay attention and call the action correctly. You clearly are not listening Please do not half ass it. Frustrating.

Funny hand of the night. I was not in it. Utg limps. Next player makes it $15. Button calls. The player next to me calls The big blind calls. Utg moves in for $65 more. The original raiser quickly stacks his chips and moves in. This is done with the confidence that comes only from having aces. The player next to me folds flashing AKs. He knew he was crushed. The button folds The big blind tanks. He has about $65 in front of him. He finally mutters something about being pried in and calls. The original raiser proudly flips over his AA. The flop is Kd Kc 7h. The guy next to me is kicking himself. I told him it was still the right play. The turn in the 4d. The river is the Qd. Utg groans and mucks. Never found out what he had. The big blind peers at the board and after some time flips over wait for it, wait for it, T5 of diamonds. He went runner runner flush with crap to beat him. It was awful. The slow roll. The horrible beat. The AA guy was livid. It was funny listening to T5 justify the call. When there is $400 in there he had to call. In actuality the most he could win was $240 or so minus the rake. Probably not even that much with the utg guy only having $70 or so to start the hand.

Prasad rallied and was up over $400.

It was a good night.